Fishing report: Cold weather turns on speck bite in St. Johns

Wednesday
Jan 3, 2018 at 7:10 PM Jan 3, 2018 at 7:10 PM

Godwin Kelly @godwinkelly

With the cold air moving in, it has changed the fishing pattern, especially for freshwater anglers.

ST. JOHNS RIVER: There is real excitement in the air along the St. Johns River. Capt. Bryn Rawlins, whose family owns Highland Park Fish Camp in DeLand, said the speckled perch bite is off the charts thanks to the cooler climes. “Specks are on!” Rawlins said in an email report. “We are seeing good speckled perch catches come in both from Lake Woodruff and from what we call the ‘run’ the Norris Dead River, which connects our camp to the lake.” Rawlins said all techniques to get a string of specks are being deployed by fishermen. “Both trolling and vertical jigging methods are working right now as the specks are moving towards the bank,” she said. “Most fishermen are using artificial jigs or minnows or both.” Rawlins said the best is yet to come. As the temperature drops, the bigger specks show up and begin feeding. “We haven't seen any giant specks yet, but are seeing good keeper-size fish coming in,” she said. “The weather we are having this week is making the bass fishing a little tough right now. We are still doing decent using wild shiners fishing the main St. Johns River.”

MOSQ. LAGOON, INDIAN RIVER: Capt. Brad Kayholm (wham bam charters.com) said the temperature may have dropped, but fishing is off the hook good. “The fishing is still outstanding,” Kayholm said. “I've been fishing deeper water in the river finding schools of black drum and slot redfish. Live shrimp on the bottom has been getting both blacks and reds to chew and seems to be the most productive.” Kayholm offered this advice to local anglers. “I use a Carolina rig with a 4/0 circle hook,” he said. “Shrimp size didn't seem to matter so I've been using mediums and been doing just fine.”

SURF, PIERS: The Daytona Beach Pier remains active despite the recent nasty weather snap. The Fishin’ Hole, which is located at the north end of downtown Daytona Beach, reports anglers are pulling up plenty of whiting, bluefish and sheepshead up to the planks. Pompano and whiting are the main catch in the surf, according to Leo Norris at Fishing Shack Bait & Tackle in Daytona Beach Shores. Norris said the Sunglow Pier was closed to fishing the last few days because of weather conditions.

OFFSHORE: There is not a whole lot happening here for recreational anglers because of the series of cold fronts. Commercial fishermen were chasing red and lane snapper right up to the close of the season (Dec. 31). “Poor offshore boating conditions due to the cool and windy frontal systems moving through the area,” said Capt. Doug Davis (saltybonesnewsmyrna.com).

PONCE INLET, HALIFAX RIVER: Norris said anglers are pulling up lunker sheepshead up and down the inlet, plus around docks located in the river near the inlet. The inlet continues to hold over-sized redfish and bruiser-sized black drum. “Somebody caught a tarpon off the jetty the other day,” Norris said. “I was little surprised about that.” Because of the harsh weather conditions, Norris said “there are not a whole lot of people fishing right now.” Norris said the sheepshead bite will improve as the water temperature cools. “As soon as we get this kind of cold weather, they come into the inlet and river,” he said. “There should be some more bluefish and pompano moving in, too. Cold weather does affect the fishing around here.”

MATANZAS INLET, RIVER: Capt. Chris Herrera (palmcoastfishing.com) said before the weather turned he was fishing the shoreline for redfish. “There’s no need for bait,” he said. “They were striking at anything that moved. The key to this type of fishing is being very quiet; seeing them before they see you making the cast.” Herrera said there are tons of small trout in the river, hiding in river holes. “We were catching them with live shrimp on the bottom,” he said. “You can catch a 100 of them, but get only two keeper-sized.” Herrera said the drop in temperature will be “good for the water” because the cooler water “kills off the brown algae and lets you sight fish.”

TOMOKA BASIN, RIVER: Capt. Barry Englehardt (fishwithcaptainbarry.com) sent this email dispatch from Tomoka: “We have experienced some drastic weather changes with the water temperature dropping to 55 degrees,” he said. “We caught reds in the basin and snook in the river.”

SEND PHOTOS: We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to robert.ullery@news-jrnl.com. Be sure to include type of fish, size of fish (weight and/or length), where the fish was caught, first and last names and hometown of angler who caught the fish, and first and last name of person who took the photo. If a child is in the photo, please include their age. The News-Journal will use one or two photos in print each week and the other photos submitted will go into the online gallery called “Readers Fish Photos.”

Wednesday
Jan 3, 2018 at 7:10 PM Jan 3, 2018 at 7:10 PM

Godwin Kelly @godwinkelly

With the cold air moving in, it has changed the fishing pattern, especially for freshwater anglers.

ST. JOHNS RIVER: There is real excitement in the air along the St. Johns River. Capt. Bryn Rawlins, whose family owns Highland Park Fish Camp in DeLand, said the speckled perch bite is off the charts thanks to the cooler climes. “Specks are on!” Rawlins said in an email report. “We are seeing good speckled perch catches come in both from Lake Woodruff and from what we call the ‘run’ the Norris Dead River, which connects our camp to the lake.” Rawlins said all techniques to get a string of specks are being deployed by fishermen. “Both trolling and vertical jigging methods are working right now as the specks are moving towards the bank,” she said. “Most fishermen are using artificial jigs or minnows or both.” Rawlins said the best is yet to come. As the temperature drops, the bigger specks show up and begin feeding. “We haven't seen any giant specks yet, but are seeing good keeper-size fish coming in,” she said. “The weather we are having this week is making the bass fishing a little tough right now. We are still doing decent using wild shiners fishing the main St. Johns River.”

MOSQ. LAGOON, INDIAN RIVER: Capt. Brad Kayholm (wham bam charters.com) said the temperature may have dropped, but fishing is off the hook good. “The fishing is still outstanding,” Kayholm said. “I've been fishing deeper water in the river finding schools of black drum and slot redfish. Live shrimp on the bottom has been getting both blacks and reds to chew and seems to be the most productive.” Kayholm offered this advice to local anglers. “I use a Carolina rig with a 4/0 circle hook,” he said. “Shrimp size didn't seem to matter so I've been using mediums and been doing just fine.”

SURF, PIERS: The Daytona Beach Pier remains active despite the recent nasty weather snap. The Fishin’ Hole, which is located at the north end of downtown Daytona Beach, reports anglers are pulling up plenty of whiting, bluefish and sheepshead up to the planks. Pompano and whiting are the main catch in the surf, according to Leo Norris at Fishing Shack Bait & Tackle in Daytona Beach Shores. Norris said the Sunglow Pier was closed to fishing the last few days because of weather conditions.

OFFSHORE: There is not a whole lot happening here for recreational anglers because of the series of cold fronts. Commercial fishermen were chasing red and lane snapper right up to the close of the season (Dec. 31). “Poor offshore boating conditions due to the cool and windy frontal systems moving through the area,” said Capt. Doug Davis (saltybonesnewsmyrna.com).

PONCE INLET, HALIFAX RIVER: Norris said anglers are pulling up lunker sheepshead up and down the inlet, plus around docks located in the river near the inlet. The inlet continues to hold over-sized redfish and bruiser-sized black drum. “Somebody caught a tarpon off the jetty the other day,” Norris said. “I was little surprised about that.” Because of the harsh weather conditions, Norris said “there are not a whole lot of people fishing right now.” Norris said the sheepshead bite will improve as the water temperature cools. “As soon as we get this kind of cold weather, they come into the inlet and river,” he said. “There should be some more bluefish and pompano moving in, too. Cold weather does affect the fishing around here.”

MATANZAS INLET, RIVER: Capt. Chris Herrera (palmcoastfishing.com) said before the weather turned he was fishing the shoreline for redfish. “There’s no need for bait,” he said. “They were striking at anything that moved. The key to this type of fishing is being very quiet; seeing them before they see you making the cast.” Herrera said there are tons of small trout in the river, hiding in river holes. “We were catching them with live shrimp on the bottom,” he said. “You can catch a 100 of them, but get only two keeper-sized.” Herrera said the drop in temperature will be “good for the water” because the cooler water “kills off the brown algae and lets you sight fish.”

TOMOKA BASIN, RIVER: Capt. Barry Englehardt (fishwithcaptainbarry.com) sent this email dispatch from Tomoka: “We have experienced some drastic weather changes with the water temperature dropping to 55 degrees,” he said. “We caught reds in the basin and snook in the river.”

SEND PHOTOS: We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to robert.ullery@news-jrnl.com. Be sure to include type of fish, size of fish (weight and/or length), where the fish was caught, first and last names and hometown of angler who caught the fish, and first and last name of person who took the photo. If a child is in the photo, please include their age. The News-Journal will use one or two photos in print each week and the other photos submitted will go into the online gallery called “Readers Fish Photos.”

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